It has now been two full years to the day since I completed the MBA at Queen's. I find myself in the same apartment after a day at work three years after starting the MBA, two and a half years after the worst financial crisis in my memorable history and two years after completing the MBA. The economy is improving, slowly, and it is much stronger than when I graduated. The good news for me is that my chosen industry, oil and gas, is doing better than most. “A rising tide floats all ships,” as they say, and I feel like I have chosen the right tide indeed.
Right now I am working in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. However, I am not in the role I took originally. After six months in my previous position, as a Market Analyst with a manufacturer of tubular products for the oil and gas industry, I conducted a self review. I took stock of where I was at, where I was going, how I was fitting into the organization I had joined and where I would fit in the future. The tough truth was that it wasn't the right fit.
After taking time to figure out exactly where I wanted to go, I started talking to friends, colleagues and recruiters. In the end, a friend referred me to a position that I absolutely love.
I am currently an Exploitation Engineer with a large Canadian exploration and production company in their Acquisition and Divestment team. As a professional engineer with a background in reservoir engineering and evaluation engineering I have a solid understanding of the technical and economic aspects of oil and gas. With my MBA I am able to go through the financial and corporate materials of small companies we are assessing for acquisition opportunities. It is the perfect place for me to be since it satisfies my desire to learn more about the corporate finance side of the business without necessarily having to take on a banking role, while at the same time allowing me to maintain my professional engineering status I worked so hard to get in the first place.
In addition, this role is definitely helping me advance toward my long-term goal of assembling a skill set that will allow me to be a member of a senior leadership team within an oil and gas exploration and production company in the future. Also, this position came with a raise that has put me above my pre-MBA earning level. It took bit of time with the downturn, but everything is looking up now.
This past year has seen some of my MBA colleague move into new positions as they found their dream jobs. In addition, the last few people who were holding out for the perfect job were successful. With those changes, I would say that the majority of my class has been successful in pursuing the dreams they set out to achieve when they started the MBA.
The class has drifted significantly apart in the past year. I see the one classmate here in Calgary about once a month, but I only hear from my other classmates about every six months and then it is only a few select people who make the effort. This is completely understandable as people move forward with their lives. From what I have been able to tell it is the same even when there are a lot of them in the same city (i.e. Toronto).
I have been attending a few of the alumni events for the business school and for the MBA program. It is here that I stay in touch with the administration staff and meet past as well as new grads. Through the administration staff I am able to hear about what my other colleagues are up to and what is new with the program. Also, I am able to help with information sessions when the school comes to town to promote the program and the school. It is during these visits as well that I have been able to learn that the placement level of the current class has returned to pre-crash levels.
Overall, my decision to complete an MBA has been a good one. It is taking a little longer for my career to get moving again than I had anticipated, but that is to be expected with what happened in the economy. However, I can definitely see where the MBA is already helping me advance and where it will help me in the future.
Well, that sums it up for my two year entry.
Until next time,
Appleseed
Informasi Terkini
10 years ago
